


Blue Food and Purple Dinosaur Stickers

by everlarklane



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M, Family, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Sibling, Sibling Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-30
Updated: 2017-01-30
Packaged: 2018-09-20 20:10:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9511262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/everlarklane/pseuds/everlarklane
Summary: "It's takes more than looking good in spandex to be a hero, kiddo."





	

“Percy?” Penelope asked, suddenly setting down one of the toy cars she’d been lining up. 

Percy propped himself up on one elbow, one hand still tangled in Annabeth’s hair as she snored against his side. “Yeah, Penny?”

“What makes a hero?” she asked, picking the car up again and spinning the wheel with her finger. “Mom and Dad call you and Annabeth heroes and that’s why you guys get hurt. But I thought heroes were like Superman and Captain America.”

“Well…” Percy said, one hand absentmindedly carding through Annabeth’s curls. “It takes more than looking good in spandex to be a hero, kiddo. Heroes are…” he paused, struggling to find the words. “Heroes are people who sacrifice and risk things to help people. Heroes are people who get up when things get hard. Heroes are people who do the right thing instead of the easy thing.”

“Like what Pr’ffessor Dumbledore said,” Penelope chirped, the car’s wheels spinning frantically with her words.

Percy laughed. “Sure thing, monkey. What brought this on?”

Annabeth snuffled and moaned something along the lines of ‘five more minutes’ and Penelope giggled. 

“Well…” Penelope said. “Mom and Dad were talking last night ‘cause they were worried. And then she said you were heroes and Dad agreed and then you guys came home and we watched Thor and then Mom said she and Dad had to leave early this morning and that Uncle Grover was watching Nick and Allie and Sophie and-”

“Okay, okay,” Percy said, glancing down as Annabeth blinked her eyes open. “Good morning sleeping beauty.”

“Urhmmm,” Annabeth replied, spitting a bit of hair out of her mouth as she brushed the sleep out of her eyes. “Wha’ timezit?”

“Nine sixteen!” Penelope said, already somersaulting back to her original position before Percy could extract his phone. For a second, both of them blinked at the girl who was currently grinning at them with gap teeth before both just shrugged. “Annabeth, you promised we’d go to the zoo today. Are we gonna go? When are we gonna go? Oh, and Dad said that you were late last night ‘cause you were doing hero stuff and Percy was telling me about what being a hero is and now that you’re awake you gotta tell stories about being a hero! Did you ever fight a monster? Was it big? Did it have _ **fangs**_? Did you-”

“Penelope, let her wake up a little,” Percy chuckled, gently pulling himself from Annabeth’s sleepy koala-hug even as the old image of twelve year old Nico flashed through his mind. 

“Coffee is good,” Annabeth mumbled, sliding slightly to the side as Percy stood. “’llegal to be wake this early.”

“Well,” Percy said simply as he ruffled Penelope’s wild hair. “How about I make us some breakfast and then we can go to the zoo. I know you miss your nieces and nephews, Penny, so maybe we can Skype them when they have lunch?”

“Why is their spring break so much later than ours?” Penelope complained. “And why do I have to go to boring old regular school and they get to go to a cool private school?”

Percy and Annabeth glanced at each other and stifled laughter.

“They go to a special school because they’re demigods, remember?” Annabeth said, stretching her arms.

“But I can _see_ monsters,” Penelope argued, crossing her arms as the cutest pout appeared on her chubby cheeks. “And my big brother is a demigod.”

Percy ruffled her hair once more as Annabeth slowly dragged herself to her feet and pulled Penny’s wheelchair closer to her. “Sorry kiddo, but that’s not how it works.”

“The middle and high school are open to Sighted mortals if your mom is okay with it,” Annabeth added. “Chin up.”

Still pouting, Penelope pulled herself up into her wheelchair and bumped into Percy’s legs. “Can I have pancakes? I like the blue ones and it’s _my_ weekend to hang out with you and I missed you,” she said in all one breath, simultaneously deploying her absolutely lethal puppy dog eyes. 

“She got that from you,” Annabeth muttered, elbowing Percy in the side. Grimacing, Percy nodded with a rue smile.

“Well?” Penelope demanded, brown eyes glittering with determination behind giant sparkly purple glasses. She would look menacing, except for the purple dinosaur sticker and chubby cheeks and overall adorable angry kitten look she had going on.

“Sure thing,” Percy said easily, stepping inside the kitchen as Annabeth and Penelope followed behind. “Want to help?”

“Yes,” the girls said with differing amounts of enthusiasm. As Percy got out bowls and spoons, Penelope gathered ingredients and Annabeth started on the coffee and tea. Minutes later, Penelope was chanting ‘blue food, blue food’ as Percy squeezed blueberry juice into the pancake mix and added the tiniest bit of blue food coloring. As he began scooping mix onto the griddle, it was Annabeth who swooped in and snatched the food coloring away from Penelope.

“Hey!” Penelope snapped.

Annabeth raised one eyebrow and waved the small tear-drop shaped bottle. “I know you, Penny.  You were about to squeeze this entire thing into the syrup.”

“And?” Penelope asked innocently. “Blue food!”

“One or two drops, kiddo,” Annabeth said with a grin. “Not twenty.”

Penelope’s shoulders sagged forward as heat rushed to her ears and cheeks. “Oh.”

“Here, want to help me?” Annabeth asked, handing the bottle back to her. Penelope’s eyes lit up and she violently shook her head. Grinning, Annabeth poured some syrup into a separate container and handed it to Penelope to color-fy. 

As Percy flipped one blue pancake into the air, the morning light trickled through the window and illuminated the three of them. As the sunlight settled on their shoulders, it was Penelope’s innocent question that sent first Annabeth into peals of laughter, then Percy, and then finally, after some protests and pouts, Penelope. For now, all was calm. 

All was calm.


End file.
